Editing Commands Research Articles

Interactive Analog Layout Editing With Instant Placement and Routing Legalization

Analog layout design is still primarily reliant on manual efforts. Current fully automated workflows are unable to meet the expectations for flexible customization and are incompatible with existing manual workflows. For both performance and productivity, interactive layout editing has the ability to bridge the gap between manual and automated flows. We present an interactive layout editing system in this study that includes well-defined commands for both placement and routing customization. This is a pioneering work that provides a holistic study on the interactive design methodology for analog layouts and its capability of speeding up design closure. Our framework comes up with the instant placement legalization and routing adjustment mechanism for rapid layout update and modification. The framework is capable of handling real-time user interaction and improving the performance of fully automated layout generators verified by post-layout simulation on real-world analog designs. Experimental results demonstrate the performance enhancement on real-world analog designs with only a few editing commands. As examples, on the low-dropout regulator, our framework can reduce the overshot down and up voltage to nearly <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1/3$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of layout generated by automation tool with two editing commands, and on the operational transconductance amplifier, it achieves 33.5% better common mode rejection ratio with only one command.

Toward Optimization of Gaze-Controlled Human-Computer Interaction: Application to Hindi Virtual Keyboard for Stroke Patients.

Virtual keyboard applications and alternative communication devices provide new means of communication to assist disabled people. To date, virtual keyboard optimization schemes based on script-specific information, along with multimodal input access facility, are limited. In this paper, we propose a novel method for optimizing the position of the displayed items for gaze-controlled tree-based menu selection systems by considering a combination of letter frequency and command selection time. The optimized graphical user interface layout has been designed for a Hindi language virtual keyboard based on a menu wherein 10 commands provide access to type 88 different characters, along with additional text editing commands. The system can be controlled in two different modes: eye-tracking alone and eye-tracking with an access soft-switch. Five different keyboard layouts have been presented and evaluated with ten healthy participants. Furthermore, the two best performing keyboard layouts have been evaluated with eye-tracking alone on ten stroke patients. The overall performance analysis demonstrated significantly superior typing performance, high usability (87% SUS score), and low workload (NASA TLX with 17 scores) for the letter frequency and time-based organization with script specific arrangement design. This paper represents the first optimized gaze-controlled Hindi virtual keyboard, which can be extended to other languages.

Operation-based Model Differencing meets State-based Model Comparison

The computation of a difference between two models is the most basic function of model versioning tools. Two fundamental approaches to obtain model differences have been proposed: Operation-based differencing and state-based comparison. They are commonly regarded as disjoint and thus evolved mostly independent of each other. Recent advances in model comparison, which lift low-level differences to invocations of complex editing commands, brought both approaches closer together. The overall goal of the CVSM working session proposed in this paper is to analyse common challenges and to derive conceptual and tooling-related issues which offer the potential for future collaborations of researchers originating from working groups of both approaches.

A comparative evaluation of human interaction for design and assembly of 3D CAD models in desktop and immersive environments

Computer aided design (CAD) systems have become today the basic tools used to design and develop products in the industry. In current CAD software most of the editing commands are issued with the aid of widgets and alphanumeric data input devices, while research community is proposing the use of virtual reality environments for CAD modelling. This paper presents an experimental study which compares the performance and usability of a multimodal immersive VR (virtual reality)-CAD system with a traditional CAD system. A comparative analysis was done for the modelling and the assembling process of 3D models. The results obtained from this investigation have shown that, in spite of the variety of interface devices in the virtual environment which provide a natural interaction to the user, the modelling time is about the same compared with a traditional desktop interface. The assembling time, however, is shown to be much smaller for multimodal system. Furthermore, the multimodal interface poses a higher physical stress factor, the hand movement distance being on average 1.6–2.3 times greater than the desktop interface for modelling process and assembling process, respectively. A post-experiment questionnaire shows that the multimodal system produce a great satisfaction for users in modelling and assembly processes.

Ginga-NCL: Declarative middleware for multimedia IPTV services

This article presents the innovative features of Ginga-NCL, an open middleware specification for multimedia IPTV services. Ginga-NCL relies on the Nested Context Language, a domain-specific declarative language targeting multimedia application authoring. As a glue language, NCL relates media objects in time and space without restricting or imposing any media content type, including media objects with imperative and declarative code written using other languages. Other NCL features include support for multidevice presentations, content adaptations, presentation adaptations, and advanced code reuse. Ginga-NCL allows NCL applications to be modified on the fly by means of live editing commands. Initially defined as the standard middleware for the Brazilian terrestrial DTV system, Ginga-NCL has recently become part of ISDB standards and an ITU-T Recommendation for IPTV services.

Ginga-NCL: the declarative environment of the Brazilian digital TV System

Abstract As in all main terrestrial DTV Systems, the Brazilian middleware, named Ginga, supports both declarative applications (through its presentation, or declarative, environment Ginga-NCL) and procedural applications (through its execution, or procedural, environment Ginga-J). Since hybrid applications are common, either type of Ginga application may make use of facilities of both presentation and execution application environments. This paper focuses on the presentation environment Ginga-NCL. The main Brazilian inovations are then presented, regarding the Ginga architecture, the declarative NCL language specification, the editing commands for live application production, and the transport data structure.

Gestores personales de bases de datos de referencias bibliográficas: características y estudio comparativo

Both the shared and unique characteristics of the most widely used personal managers of bibliographic reference data bases are analysed: Reference Manager, EndNote, ProCite, RefWorks and EndNote Web. The aspects considered include: data input, authority control, global editing commands, personal configuration of the data bases, reference exportation, visualization of records, insertion of bibliographic references and automatic generation of bibliographies.

ATool

This paper describes aTool, an extension to Microsoft's Word to create XML documents. aTool has been developed in a joint project of the publisher Springer Verlag, Technical University of Munich (TUM), and Technical University of Aachen (RWTH). It has been developed to provide Springer Verlag with uniform XML documents from its authors and has become a generic XML creation tool that can be adapted to different document structures.For an author, aTool derives XML structures from MS Word editing commands, while he creates his text. For a technical manager, aTool can be parameterized in flexible, yet simple ways to suit the needs of a specific XML application. For a programmer, the paper describes the main implementation details of aTool. The paper closes with a short comparison to other approaches and a summary of the benefits and shortcomings of aTool.

Gesture-based editing system for graphic primitives and alphanumeric characters

This paper presents a system that edits graphic primitives and alphanumeric characters using hand gestures in natural environments. Gesture is one of the most natural means of enhancing human-computer interaction (HCI) techniques to the level of human communication. This research aims to recognize one-stroke pictorial gestures from visual images, and to develop a graphic/text editing system running in real time. The tasks are performed through three steps: moving-hand tracking and trajectory generation, key-gesture segmentation, and gesture recognition by analyzing dynamic features. A gesture vocabulary consists of 48 gestures of three types: (1) six editing commands; (2) six graphic primitives; and (3) alphanumeric characters—26 alphabetic and 10 numerical. A meaningful gesture part is segmented by a spotter using the phase-based velocity constraints. Some dynamic features are obtained from spatio-temporal trajectories and quantized by the K-means algorithm. The quantized vectors were trained and tested using hidden Markov models (HMMs). Experimental results show about 88.5% correct recognition rate, and also the practical potential for applying these techniques to several areas such as the remote control of robots or of electronic household appliances, or object manipulation in VR systems.

A machine-learning apprentice for the completion of repetitive forms

The authors have developed a software environment in which workers can complete repetitive forms, and a machine-learning and prediction system that works within it. The nonintrusive assistant or apprentice provides viable default values for blank fields in a form, saving users up to 87 percent in keystroke effort and correctly predicting nearly 90 percent of the form's values. The system and prediction methods are active, yet not intrusive. Default predictions are always displayed, yet the user can override them easily with normal editing commands. >

Issues on feature-based editing and interrogation of solid models

Operations that create additive or subtractive volume features, such as bosses or slots, simplify the computer aided design of mechanical parts. Surface features, whether extracted automatically or selected interactively, group functionally related boundary elements, and thus provide an expedient interface between CAD systems and analysis or manufacturing applications. Despite much progress in CAD, design remains an iterative process and involves error-prone modifications of previous solutions. Features should in principle offer a high level vocabulary for characterizing errors and for specifying how they should be corrected. This paper points out the semantic ambiguities of simplistic feature-based commands for editing models. It recommends procedural models for editing volume features, and corrective volumes for editing surface features. It shows how space decomposition techniques and CSG expressions based on active zones reduce the cost of executing an editing command. Error detection may be automated by supporting intentional features, which correspond to the desired characteristics of the model, and by endowing them with domain dependent validity criteria expressed in terms of associated geometric elements. The paper demonstrates that validity may be tested by simply interrogating a mixed-dimensional geometric structure which is used to represent not only the model, but also the interactions between the geometric elements associated with intentional features.

Twelve Tone Systems Cakewalk Sequencer Software

The source of my newfound happiness is Cakewalk, a sequencer for IBM-compatible computers, from Twelve Tone Systems. With a few minor exceptions, it's the best-designed, most complete MSDOS sequencer I've found. Indeed, it's one of the best MS-DOS music programs I've encountered, period. The software runs on an IBM or compatible PC, XT, AT, or 386-based system running PCDOS or MS-DOS. The version I tested supports Roland's MPU-401 and compatible MIDI interfaces, though other versions support the Music Quest MQX-32 dual-port interface and Yamaha's C1 music computer. Cakewalk uses the tape recorder metaphor, rather than a phrase or pattern editor orientation. For the track-hungry, Cakewalk provides 256 of them; any track can be used to record, edit, or delete any type of MIDI data. This alone separates Cakewalk from those of its competitors that can't smoothly handle controller data, system exclusive messages, program change messages, or other non-note events. Cakewalk can handle any MIDI event, on any track, at any time, and quickly. Speed is one of Cakewalk's main virtues. Data entry and edit operations are so easy and flow so seamlessly from one to the next that they don't interrupt the rhythm of the creative process. That had been a major complaint about many sequencers I've tried-a slow-running program doesn't only affect the pace of my work, it forces me to change the style in which I work. Part of the reason Cakewalk runs so quickly is that it doesn't use fancy graphics, which can slow screen-painting considerably. But even benchmarked against similar character-oriented programs, Cakewalk was significantly faster than most. Cakewalk provides several different views of a sequence, and it switches from one to another almost instantly. The Track View provides an overview of all 256 tracks by scrolling up or down, with 16 tracks on screen at any one time. Track View operations include naming tracks (with not one, but two name fields), muting or unmuting (though there is no Solo function), adding a velocity offset to make an entire track louder or softer, transposition, adding a time offset, or forcing an entire track to a specific MIDI channel. The Track View also lets users select specific tracks for subsequent region editing commands, which apply to all selected tracks.

Transfer between text editors

This paper describes a successful test of a quantitative model that accounts for large positive transfer effects between similar screen editors, between different line editors and from line editors to a screen editor, and between text and graphic editors. The model is tested in an experiment using two very similar full-screen text-editors differing only in the structure of their editing commands, verb-noun vs noun-verb. Quantitative predictions for training time were derived from a production system model based on the Polson and Kieras (1985) model of text editing.

Transfer between text editors

This paper describes a successful test of a quantitative model that accounts for large positive transfer effects between similar screen editors, between different line editors and from line editors to a screen editor, and between text and graphic editors. The model is tested in an experiment using two very similar full-screen text-editors differing only in the structure of their editing commands, verb-noun vs noun-verb. Quantitative predictions for training time were derived from a production system model based on the Polson and Kieras (1985) model of text editing.

Portable file management system in FORTRAN. II. The input/output routine for free-formal text

A software tool for inputing and outputing patient data (1/O routine) has been developed. Since this I/O routine is programmed exclusively in FORTRAN77, it will make a powerful tool for constructing a portable database system. Basically the routine manipulates an ASCII-coded text string that consists of lines demarcated by the CR code (13) and is terminated by the null code (0). The editing commands are preceded by one of the following ASCII characters: @, !, ], [, ∗, and _, and all the strings with an initial character other than these are interpreted as data to be inserted into the text. Since the voutine uses two FORTRAN tools already reported, i.e. the subroutines to manipulate key files and the subroutines to manage variable length records, character strings can be stored without any restriction in format or in size, and can be retrived either sequentially or in an indexed manner.

A structure editor for abstract document objects

The author presents an interactive document editor based on an expressive abstract document model for paper and electronic documents. The model introduces the notions of abstract and concrete objects, hierarchical composition of ordered and unordered objects, sharing of components, and reference links. It has been used to specify a wide variety of document objects, and is the basis for a document processing system that allows its users to edit the logical structure of a document using specific structure editing commands. This system introduces two new ideas. The first involves computational objects; each object can be programmed to generate its own unique view of the document, and each of these views can be displayed in a separate window on the screen. The second involves multiple windows to display the document structure. The windows are arranged hierarchically as sets and sequences, depending on the composite structure of the document. This system is used for both editing and viewing documents.

Retrieval of HELP Information for Novice Users of Interactive Computer Systems

Appropriate design of HELP is important, particularly for novice users of software systems. Three methods of controlling HELP displays were evaluated in a text-editing task. The three methods were the initiation of HELP (i.e., user versus computer), the selection of a particular HELP sequence (i.e., user versus computer), and the type of format (i.e., on-line versus hard copy). These three variables were crossed in a between-subjects design along with a control condition of no HELP available to produce a total of nine separate test conditions. All of the various HELP configurations improved time to edit and reduced both the quantity of errors and the number of editing commands when compared with the no-HELP control condition. Additionally, there were differential effects among the various HELP configurations. It was concluded that for novice users, the optimum HELP system configuration was one in which the user controls the initiation and selection of HELP displays, and the information is stored in a hard-copy manual. The implications of this conclusion are discussed in terms of the design of HELP to facilitate browsing and comparison features.

When does an abbreviation become a word? and related questions

An experiment is reported in which subjects previously naive to text editing learned to use a set of editing commands. Some subjects used abbreviations from the beginning. Others began by using full command names, then switched to the (optional) use of abbreviations, either of their own devising or of our selection. We found significant differences in the number and nature of the errors produced by subjects in the different conditions. People who created their own abbreviations did most poorly, and did not appear to learn from this experience. Those who used abbreviations from the start were more likely to fall into error through misrecalling the referent names. The results suggest aspects of the underlying cognitive representations, with implications for the design of software interfaces.

Tracing the evolution of knowledge structures

The goal of the research described here is to understand the evolution of knowledge structures as novices learn to use text editors. Two groups of individuals were trained to use one of two text editing systems: the IBM Displaywriter and UCSD-Pascal. Individuals rated the similarity among pairs of editing commands before and after training. Before training, subjects’ similarity ratings are characterized by heavy reliance on natural language denotations of command names. After training, subjects’ similarity ratings are explainable in terms of a small set of identifiable properties of underlying knowledge structures that are typical of experts’ knowledge about a text editor. These properties reflect functional features of command actions, and the psychological salience of a property for a given individual is related to editing performance.

An empirical investigation of voice as an input modality for computer programming

Recently, automatic speech recognition systems have shown the potential of becoming a useful means of data entry and control. The most successful of these speech recognition systems accept an isolated utterance as input and use a task-oriented syntactically-constrained vocabulary for increased recognition accuracy. At the same time, language-directed editors are beginning to be introduced into the programmer's workplace. A language-directed editor is an editor that has knowledge of the underlying syntax (and basic semantics) of a language. Program entry, then, is syntax-driven and program editing may proceed on a syntactic (semantic) basis. This article discusses the design, implementation, and results of a controlled experiment to evaluate voice versus keyboard (the standard input mode) in a language-directed editing environment. Twenty-four subjects inputted and edited program segments under control of a language-directed editor via the two input modes. Measures of speed, accuracy, and efficiency were used to compare these two modes of input. In general, the results showed that the subjects were able to complete more of the input and edit tasks by keyboard (70%) than by voice (50–55%), but that keyboard input had a higher error rate than did voice input. Also, the use of voice was just as efficient as keyboard for the inputting of editing commands. These results must be viewed with the understanding that the subjects were novices with respect to voice input, but were very experienced with keyboard input. In this light, it can be seen that voice holds much promise as mode of input for computer programming.